


Betrayal

by moo_said_the_cow



Category: Alex Rider - Anthony Horowitz
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:48:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25329583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moo_said_the_cow/pseuds/moo_said_the_cow
Summary: With the birth of Alex, John Rider works to part ways with Scorpia. But leaving Scorpia is a lot more complicating than it seems, in more ways than one.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31





	Betrayal

The rental car sped south through Chicago’s industrial district. It was only 5pm, but this far north in the dead of winter, the sky was completely devoid of sunlight. Twenty year old Yassen Gregorovich sat in the front passenger seat, staring out the window, trying to make out the warehouses outside in the darkness. Beside him, John Rider gripped the steering wheel casually. He had a ball cap pulled down over his face, but even obscured in the shadows, Yassen could tell that his face was devoid of any expression. 

They made a right into an unmarked alley, and pulled into the parking lot at the back of an abandoned warehouse. John pulled the key out of the ignition and glanced at Yassen, then at the unconscious man trussed up in the backseat. Yassen nodded slightly. He got out and grabbed the man roughly, hoisting him over his shoulder before following John inside. 

They ended up in a tiny office in the corner of the warehouse, the floor covered in plastic sheeting by Yassen earlier that afternoon. There was a single chair in the middle room, and Yassen dropped their captive unceremoniously into it. Meanwhile, John pulled out a jug of water from a chest freezer in the corner and dumped it on his head. The man stirred a little. 

“Good morning.” John stepped forward.

Yassen knew what was going to come next. Forced his mind not to linger on the violence and the gore. He has seen this scene played out half a dozen times in the past; John slaps their captive across the face, makes threats about bodily harm, proceeds to carry out said threats. Inevitably, the captive breaks. After John is done, Yassen draws his gun, attaches a silencer, and shoot the captive at point blank range. This time is no different.

They had first discussed their approach more than a year ago, shortly after he returned from Russia. John had suggested it. Yassen didn’t ask. Privately wondered if John did not want to have to report to MI6 that he had just killed another person. Or if he wanted, in his own warped way, to protect Yassen from getting his hands dirty. Yassen suspected the former, but the minutest bit of warmth unfurled in his chest at the thought of the latter. 

* * *

_— Gregorovich and I were sent to Chicago to intimidate members of the Local 1413 union on behalf of Scorpia’s client. We kidnapped the union leader, and brought him to a warehouse, where Gregorovich worked him for information on his accomplices and killed him. I was not able to dissuade him; the man is dangerous and completely loyal to Scorpia —_

Tulip Jones flipped over to the next page to scan through a news clipping from the Chicago Tribune. A body had been found floating in the river three days later by a group of kids, mutilated beyond recognition. It would take days for the police to go over reports of missing persons and compare them to the victim. MI6, with the information John Rider had provided, was able to figure it out much faster.

Mrs Jones mulled over the report that she had just read. It seemed awfully strange that he had gone from reluctant teenage Scorpia hire to skilled murderer and torturer in the space of half a year. Wondered if it had anything to do with Alan Blunt’s insistence that John Rider try to find a replacement double agent in the organization as part of their deal to pull him out. Decided not to dwell on that thought. He had done numerous psychological screenings before they agreed to send him in, and all the psychologists they had sent him to were adamant that he would be loyal to England and MI6 above all. He and Helen had sacrificed so much for this mission, it had paid off, and he deserved to come home to a break and to look after their newborn son. 

She found Alan Blunt in his office ten minutes later, going over the same report. 

He spoke without looking up. “What do you think?”

“We need to get John Rider out. He’s accomplished far more than we thought he would, and it’s getting dangerous for him in there. Rothman…”

“I’d still prefer not to lose the valuable intelligence he’s been providing us.” 

Mrs Jones paused to collect her thoughts. Her husband was at home at the moment, looking after her two children. She didn’t like that she wasn’t home as much as she should have been, but it was part of her job. She pushed the thought of her children out of her head, refusing to let them cloud her judgement. “Let’s postpone the decision on his extraction until his next report. I’ll tell Ash and his team to remain on standby in the meantime.” 

Blunt watched Mrs Jones walk out of his office. He had attended a cabinet briefing earlier this morning, and to say it had gone poorly had been an understatement. The home secretary had been furious to find out that a deep cover MI6 agent had murdered no less than five innocent people, one of them just the day before. In John Rider’s early days in Scorpia, he had done his best to communicate who his next targets were going to be, and MI6 had done their best to approach them first and put them into witness protection. It was quite clear to all of them that he had gone somewhat out of control, even if he claimed the deaths had not been by his hand. Even then, it was undeniable that he had provided them with valuable intelligence, and it was time MI6 fulfilled their end of the bargain. Blunt remained in his office until the sun went down, pondering this problem and making the arrangements he knew the home secretary would have wanted him to make.

* * *

“John Rider was an MI6 double agent.”

Yassen was not at all surprised by the news, but he allowed himself to show a slight reaction. A little surprise, mixed with a twist of anger at his betrayal. He had been summoned to Julia Rothman’s home in Venice a day ago, and he sat with her in her study now. She was sipping espresso, he had declined the offer of a drink. 

Mrs Rothman watched him closely. “In the end, it was the head of MI6 Special Operations, Alan Blunt, who told us. Their own double agent had become an inconvenience, and they contacted us to dispose of him.” 

Part warning, part threat. Part assessing his loyalty to Scorpia, determining if John Rider had convinced him to change sides. Yassen was used to Scorpia’s ways by now. He refused to allow himself to be affected by it. “Perhaps we should have charged them for the assassination?”

“Then we might have had to pay for the information they gave us as well.” Rothman laughed. It seemed like he had passed then.

Yassen left her home shortly after, retreating to a hotel in Venice for the rest of the day. Inevitably, he found himself wondering about the baby. John had only mentioned him by name once, after some stiff drinks at the end of a particularly tough assignment. _Alexander John Rider._ Three months old and already an orphan, none too different from Yassen himself. Wherever he was, Yassen hoped that he would stay well away from the dark forces that had killed his parents and shaped his life into what it was. 


End file.
